The HTC Status is quite simply HTC’s way of stating loudly that they can appease anyone. Whether it be middle-aged executives gunning for a powerful Android device to be their daily driver, or in the Status’ case, simply a tween whose only joy in life is taking pictures of everything and anything they see and ensuring that they can upload it to Facebook effortlessly for their friends to tag, like, gawk and comment on; OS is generally irrelevant. And though Facebook already works very well with Android - widgets and all - the Status takes things even deeper, further integrating all the features we have grown addicted to and making them literally a touch away. Read on to find out my impressions after a week of using the Status as my primary device.

Hardware:

Simply put: HTC did their research with this one. The Status is a dream in the hands and the keyboards smooth usability is the first device ever that I’ve compared to that of a BlackBerry - yup, it’s THAT good. The housing itself has a soft plastic finish and has a comfortable, thin feel, so the convenience is there whether you’re an “in-hand” person or of the phone-in-pocket variety. My one qualm with this device - and I mean it annoys the heck outta me - is the battery cover. Yes it’s secure, but it’s nearly impossible to take-off without using brute force; something I assume was designed for teens who are less than gentle with their devices. The most promoted feature of this phone is the little “F” button at the bottom right corner of the phone, just under the keypad; it’s the dedicated “Facebook Update” button. To be honest, because of the positioning I assumed it was just a generic Facebook logo, rather than an active button to update my status with, which is a shame because the concept is great.

The Screen:

Not too big, not too small; just enough to do your thing Facebook wise, but too small for those of us who appreciate some good real estate - although it isn’t made for us anyway. The screen on this phone has a teen in mind ten-fold; it’s a 2.5-inch TFT touch-screen display with Gorilla Glass, which will do a great job insuring against accidental drops, scratches and of course, mistreatment. I put it through its paces and the screen withstood a decent lashing without showing a single scratch.

Android 2.3 and Facebook working together:

The ecosystem that is Android is a very strange, very fragmented one; perpetually in Beta, it’s an OS made for people who need to have the latest and greatest, and will actually forego device stability to achieve this. Regardless of the device being used, regardless if it has or has not received an update to Gingerbread, one can always anticipate at least one app not available, not working, or simply not supported. So when I heard that Android would be the OS that would work totally side by side with Facebook - a website based around stability and usability - I was a bit perplexed. I received the device and immediately saw how fluent it worked; easy setup, user friendly, and convenient. Facebook responded effortlessly and with the on screen ease of FB messaging - not to mention that buttery keyboard - I found myself actually wanting to be reachable and responsive, just to have a reason to use it. The only major downside to the Status that I noticed - and this was quite immediate - was the meager 512MB RAM. I barely had the chance to log in to Google and start downloading my stored apps, before it notified me of a lack of memory for storage - lame; I was forced to start deleting apps just to get Google Voice and WhatsApp working. Yes, I do understand the memory is expandable, but the device shouldn’t be reliant on this just for the necessities; especially in a mobile world that is almost completely app-centric.

Overall:

I can say honestly I would never buy this phone, harsh reality, but a true one; however, in defense of HTC and AT&T, this device was not made nor intended for me or my demographic - so the aforementioned comment should hold no real insult. Teens on the other hand are going to eat this baby up; it offers a fully customizable change from the norm (BlackBerry and iPhone) in a good way. To have a device solely centered around a fluid social media experience with Facebook “baked in” is what makes the Status stand out; and those who appreciate it, might never want to put it down.

You can pickup the HTC Status from AT&T for $49.99 on a 2-year commitment here